Volleyball Suffers Setback in Final Match on Saturday

Saturday, August 27

West Point, NY

7 PM

Army West Point

0-3

Hofstra

3-0

Hofstra

Army

Volleyball Suffers Setback in Final Match on Saturday

August 27, 2016 | Volleyball

Box Score

WEST POINT, N.Y. – The Army West Point volleyball team came out to a hot start Saturday night against Hofstra in Gillis Field House. The Cadets fell 3-1 to the Pride who were recognized as the Black Knights Invitational Champions.

ARMY HIGHLIGHTS AND GAME NOTES

Vanessa Wesley and Rachel Gearon were named to the All-Tournament Team for Army.
Gearon led Army offensively by hitting .366. She averaged 2.54 points per set. Wesley completed the weekend with a .269 hitting percentage while averaging 2.75 points per set. The pair each produced 11 blocks on the weekend to lead the team.
Amber Clay (15), Wesley (11) and Gearon (10) led the Black Knights in kills for their final game. Haven Bethune and Allie Strong each tallied five kills for Army.
Bethune dished out a career-high 36 assists in the match while also recording a personal-best seven digs.
The Cadets stepped up at the night Saturday to out-block the Pride 10-8. Gearon totaled seven block assists while captain Olivia Fairfield notched six.
Megan Bryn was solid once again for Army with 13 digs. Clay (8), Bethune (7) and Shannel Chong (7) also pitched in defensively.

HOW IT HAPPENED

After tying things up 17-17, the Black Knights went on a 6-0 run to take a 23-17 advantage.
Clay had back-to-back points for the Cadets with help from Gearon and Fairfield at the net for a block. Strong brought it to set point with a kill before Fairfield completed the set, 25-21, with a kill from Haven Bethune.
Wesley was on the offensive at the net in the beginning of set two. Wesley and Bethune put away multiple floaters over the net to keep the second set close. Gearon and Clay joined together for a block on the right side to push Army ahead 6-3. Bethune's dump ball followed by a conversion with Clay sent the Black Knights up 8-3.
The second set was filled with energy from both teams during the back-and-forth battle which had eight tie scores and four lead changes. The Pride claimed their first set of the match with a kill from Veronika Kostova.
During the third set, Army trailed 20-14, but Bethune sparked up Army's energy with an attack to the far corner. After that, Gearon took advantage of a 50/50 ball at the net then teamed up with Fairfield for a block to bring the Cadets within five at 21-16.
Strong and Wesley gave the Black Knights point number 17 of the third set with a stuff at the net. Clay kept Army in the game at the end of the set by making near-impossible digs. The Pride would hold out to win 25-18 however and to lead in 2-1 in the match.
In set four, Hofstra jumped out to 20 points quickly with just nine on the board for the Black Knights. The Black Knights fought back to 13, but Hofstra did not let up and won the set 25-13.

ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM

Emily Campbell, Valparaiso
Taylor Graboski, Valparaiso
Sydney Haynes, Bakersfield
Sophie Flemion, Bakersfield
Vanessa Wesley, Army
Rachel Gearon, Army
Leticia Valente, Hofstra
Veronika Kostova, Hofstra

TOURNAMENT MVP

Luisa Domingues, Hofstra

TOURNAMENT RESULTS

Match One // Valparaiso 3, Bakersfield 1
Match Two // Hofstra 3, Valparaiso 2
Match Three // Bakersfield 3, Army 2
Match Four // Valparaiso 3, Army 2
Match Five // Hofstra 3, Bakersfield 1
Match Six // Hofstra 3, Army 1

NOTES FROM ALMA KOVACI LEE

"We knew it was going to be a tough one because we scheduled tough this year. I am proud of the heart that the team had this weekend. We progressed so much. The record won't show it, but I could definitely see the freshmen fighting and our middles stepping up. Rachel stepped up big time for us along with Megan at libero. It was nice to see players like Allie and Nikki for the first time and most importantly having Haven the center of our 5-1."
"Going to five sets in our first matches and playing well against an impressive Hofstra team was a positive from the weekend. Hofstra is an experienced team with a lot of power and played at a higher level at the net, but we adjusted really well and had some big blocks on the outside. That was the goal and will continue to be one throughout the season."

UP NEXT
Army will travel to Austin, Texas, to face Lipscomb, Texas and UTSA at the Texas Classic over Labor Day Weeken